Lilly gave in and nodded. Her lips pressed tight, and she kept her head down as she slowly took each step up to my apartment. She stepped three-feet past the threshold and stopped.
“Why don’t you make yourself comfortable?” I offered, pointing to the couch.
“I rather stand, thank you. I can’t stay long.”
“Lilly.” I released a controlled breath, containing the irritation that was creeping up faster than I cared to admit. I was hoping to bypass the lingering unease. Apparently, I had misunderstood. “Please, have a seat.” She hesitated at first, glancing toward the front door and then back to the living room.
She walked past me and tucked herself into a corner of the couch.
Sitting opposite of her, I got a good look at her sad, but beautiful, face and hated the short distance between us. Once I explained and was back in her good graces, we wouldn’t be spending much time in this room anyway. I was determined to show her how much I loved her and needed her in my life. Remind her how much we belonged together—just us.
“Can I get you something to drink?”
“No, thank you,” she replied flatly, still avoiding my eyes.
“Okay. Let’s see.” I rubbed my palms along the length of my shorts and thought it would be best to start off with an apology. “I’m sorry I just up and left, but I had to. There was an accident—” Lilly’s soft gasp pulled me from my train of thought.
“Are you okay? Were you hurt?” She reached for me then pulled back, quickly masking her emotions again.
“I’m fine. It was my brother. We weren’t sure if he was going to make it.”
Her hand flew to her mouth, covering another gasp. She inched closer to me, and I could hear the genuine concern in her voice. “What happened? Is he okay? Is he going to be okay?”
“He will be, but it’ll take some time.” I swallowed hard and closed my eyes, thinking about my little brother and how badly he was hurt. How he teetered between life and death for far too many days than I cared to have lived through.
“Easton,” Lilly gently spoke my name, laying her hand on mine. “What happened?” Her features softened dramatically from the stubborn hot-headed woman she was not too long ago to the woman I’d come to love, who was nothing but compassion and understand.
I squeezed her hand, needing to feel her, to be reassured that she was still there with me, regardless if she was sitting right there next to me. “He was over at a friend’s house. They were goofing off, trying to one up the other, and decided to head over to the skate park.” Thoughts of him lying unconscious and helpless in that hospital bed plagued my mind. “Couple of the resident punks showed up and kept taunting my brother. Telling him he was a poser and wasn’t as good of a skateboarder as he thought he was. They were probably just jealous of him, you know?”
She nodded her understanding.
“They dared him to ride the steep hill opposite the park. Kipp knew that hill was dangerous, not to mention a long shot, but he attempted it anyway. He didn’t even have anything to prove to those little pricks. Plain and simple, Kipp is a badass skateboarder.” The skin under my eyes burned as I brushed it away. The sight of my little brother lying there lifeless in a hospital bed haunted my daydreams. The sound of the machines beeping, the tubes, and wires plastered everywhere on his small body had me choking up.
“According to his friend, Jason, Kipp was halfway down the hill, going at a speed he normally would have never attempted. They don’t know what it was—probably a rock in the road or something—but Kipp wiped out. He wasn’t wearing a helmet and the way he landed could have killed him. Almost did kill him.”
“Oh my god!” I squeezed her hand, letting her know that she wasn’t alone in her reaction.
“All I knew was that my brother’s life was stuck in limbo, and I needed to get to him. When I first got to the hospital . . . seeing his head swollen, wrapped in white gauze, his body bruised and banged up . . . any kind of hope I had of him recovering vanished.” I inhaled a sharp breath through my nose. “It was touch and go for a while. They had him in an induced coma to ease the swelling in his brain. After the first few days, the doctors planned to wean him off the medication with the hopes he’d come to. That didn’t go as planned. The swelling would come back, and they would have to put him under again.”
“Easton,” she whispered my name with such sincerity. “I’m sorry. I hope he’s going to be okay.”
“It’s going to be a long road, but his recovery looks promising. He’s lucky he’s young.”
“Thank God.” She relaxed into the seat back, and I couldn’t help but admire how beautiful she looked. How much I missed seeing her pretty face and kissing her soft lips.
I reached up and brushed a strand of hair away from her face, and her eyes fluttered closed.
“As for me not calling, I realized after I got to the hospital that I lost my phone. I think I might have left it on the airplane, and I don’t have your number memorized,” I admitted, guilt squeezing through my chest. Had I done the simple task of memorizing those seven digits, things might have not gotten this out of control.
“It’s okay, I understand.” She squeezed my hand, and I smiled in appreciation. “I’m just glad your brother is going to be okay.”
“Me, too.”
“How’s your mom taking all of this?”
I gave her question some thought. “She’s handling it a lot better than I expected. The first couple of days were hard for her, not knowing what was going to happen, but I think it helped that me and my stepdad were with her.”
“She’s lucky to have such a great son like you.”
“Thank you.”
I sat there quietly, appreciating her kindness. After a minute or two, our eyes met, and I couldn’t take not touching her any longer. Not tasting her sweet mouth or loving her sexy body. I needed to replace all the bad with the best thing that ever happened to me—her.
“Lilly,” I rasped, curving my hand around the back of her neck, pulling her face to rest mere inches from mine. “Sunshine, I’ve missed you, and I’m so sorry for leaving you in your time of need.” Leaning in, I brushed my lips a hair’s breadth above hers. Waiting and hoping she’d meet me in a kiss I so desperately craved.
“I’m sorry, too. Sorry for being so stubborn and making you out to be the bad person I know you aren’t.” She lifted her hand to cradle the side of my face. “I’ve missed you . . . so much,” she whispered as her lips made the descent onto mine.
The impact of her soft, warm mouth pressed against mine had my mind reeling and a low growl escaping me. A primal need filtered through my blood, craving the connection with the woman who owned my heart. The one, who once and for all, needed to know that she was mine and there was nothing that could change that.
Without breaking our connection, I wrapped my arm around her waist and carefully pulled her onto my lap. She straddled my hips, and I could feel the heat from between her legs burning hot on me.
“Sunshine,” I pleaded, grasping her hips, trying to find any kind of control. I knew we still had some unresolved issues to discuss, but I needed her more.
“Shh, I’m here, anything you need . . .” She bit my bottom lip, pulling it between her teeth. “I’m not going anywhere.”